The tallest Mount Everest

May 27, 2018June 17, 2018

The Mount Everest is the world’s highest mountain from the sea level, with a peak elevation of 29,029 feet (8848 meters). The Mount Everest is located on the border of Nepal and Tibet, China. The top of as the world’s highest mountain, climbing to the top of Mount Everest has been a goal of many mountain climbers for many decades.

The Himalaya rose in response to the subduction of the Indo-Australian plate under the Eurasian plate. The Himalaya continue to rise a few centimeters each year as the Indo-Australian plate continues moving northward into and under the Eurasian plate.

Indian surveyor Radhanath Sikdar, part of the British-led Survey of India, determined in 1852 that Mount Everest was the tallest mountain in the world and established an initial elevation of 29,000 feet. Mount Everest was known as Peak XV by the British until it was given its current English name of Mount Everest in 1865. The mountain was named after Sir George Everest, who served as the Surveyor General of India from 1830 to 1843.

Mount Everest is given the name as Sagarmatha in Sanskrit, which means Ocean mother and Chomolungma in Tibetan which means goddess mother of the world. The peak of Mount Everest has three somewhat flat sides; it is said to be shaped like a three-sided pyramid. Glaciers and ice cover the sides of the mountain. In January, temperatures drop to as low as -76°F (-60°C). In July, temperatures can get as high as nearly zero degrees Fahrenheit (about -18 Celsius).

Even with the hurricane-force winds, extreme cold, and low oxygen levels (about one-third of the oxygen in the atmosphere as at sea level), climbers seek to successfully climb Mount Everest every year. Since the first historic climber from New Zealand Edmund Hillary Edmund and Nepalese Tenzing Norgay in 1953, more than 2000 people have successfully climbed Mount Everest.

Unlucky, due to the hazards and rigors of climbing such a dangerous mountain, over 200 have died attempting to climb – making the death rate for Mount Everest climbers about 1 in 10. Nonetheless, in the late spring or summer months, the climbing season, there can be tens of climbers attempting to reach the peak of Mount Everest each day.

The cost to climb Mount Everest is substantial. The permit from the government of Nepal can charge from $10,000 to $25,000 per person, according to the number in a group of climbers with the equipment, Sherpa guides, additional permits, helicopters, and other essentials and the cost per person can be well over $65,000.

In 1999, climbers using Global Positioning System equipment determined a new height for Mount Everest – 29,035 feet above sea level, seven feet (2.1 meters) above the previously accepted height of 29,028 feet. The climb to determine the accurate height was co-sponsored by the National Geographic Society and Boston’s Museum of Science. This new height 0f 29,035 feet was immediately and widely accepted.

Despite everything, Mount Everest will always be famous for its extreme height that reaches nearly five and a half miles (8.85 km) into the sky.